Related Tags

The Guardian and WikiLeaks: is this the future of journalism?

For journalists, the present day may seem like both the best of times and the worst of times.

Traditional news organizations, disrupted by the internet, are
struggling, making it harder to turn journalism into profit.

But at the
same time, change brought about by the internet is creating exciting new
opportunities for journalism.

One of the most promising opportunities come from the realm of citizen journalism. From engaged citizens reporting local news, to self-fashioned investigative journalists, the businesses built around journalism may be shrinking, but the number of 'journalists' is arguably increasing.

When it comes to citizen journalism, one of the most interesting initiatives is WikiLeaks. Started by Australian activist Julian Assange, WikiLeaks is dedicated to obtaining and publishing leaks of confidential and classified information that may be of interest to the public.

In the past several years, WikiLeaks' profile has grown tremendously, and so too has the amount of controversy it creates. The latest controversy that it's embroiled in, however, may be the most interesting, as it pits WikiLeaks against a traditional news organization, The Guardian.

At issue: Wikileaks signed an agreement with The Guardian's Alan Rusbridger. In it, Rusbridger acknowledges that the material WikiLeaks is providing to The Guardian "is for review only, and is not to be published without the express consent of Julian Assange or his authorised representative".

He also agrees that "the material will be held in conditions of strict confidence within the Guardian and will not be shown to any third party".

Now, Assange claims that The Guardian violated this agreement when "Guardian investigations editor, David Leigh, recklessly, and without gaining our approval, knowingly disclosed... decryption passwords in a book published by the Guardian".

According to WikiLeaks, "Revolutions and reforms are in danger of being lost as the unpublished cables spread to intelligence contractors and governments before the public".

Notwithstanding the irony that a man releasing classified material which somebody ostensibly broke the law in leaking would seek to control by legal agreement the release of that information, the spirit of this agreement, which Rusbridger certainly understood, on the surface gave Assange a form of editorial control over The Guardian.

This is because the newspaper simply couldn't publish a hot story using the information gleaned from WikiLeaks without the approval of a man who, by his own admission, has been releasing classified government information as part of a "carefully laid out plan to stimulate profound changes".

While Assange may be deluded for believing that he's responsible for the Arab Spring, the fact that respected news organizations like The Guardian would, by agreement, become subservient to a man who thinks he's using the news media as a tool for sparking revolutions is somewhat disturbing, particularly given that Assange's gloating comes after the devastation wrought by those revolutions is apparent.

Obviously, the business of news is tough, and in some respects, the internet has only made it tougher. Traditional news organizations have faced many challenges because of digital change, and print news organizations specifically have faced some of the greatest challenges.

So it's very hard for organizations like The Guardian to sit back and watch as groups like WikiLeaks break the juiciest stories using classified information that mainstream news organizations would probably never otherwise obtain.

But, just as a desire for a hot story doesn't mean that it's morally acceptable to hack somebody's phone, there's a strong argument to be made that The Guardian and others shouldn't be making deals with individuals like Julian Assange.

The future of journalism may not be clear, but one thing is: publishing stories under the direction of a single person with an agenda isn't journalism.

You might be interested in

Comments (4)

Steve

This article started out well, but spiraled out of control into a heaping crash site. Starting with speculating that Assange is "deluded" and "gloating", and ending with the statement that The Guarding is watching Wikileaks break stories. Actually, The Guarding is breaking stories for Wikileaks! And is Assange has an agenda, it is only to bring the other side of the governments' propaganda to light. That is a noble agenda.

almost 7 years ago

Rick Nelson

Newspapers and other media outlets make deals with governments and corporations all the time on when to release or not release sensitive information given to them. Sometimes they abide by the agreements, sometimes they don't.

Assante isn't asking for payment for special access as some might, he is only asking that if what he considers a like-minded media outlet has access to the inside information he works to provide for special cases that they use it appropriately.

Creating good guys and bad guys in the analysis of this situation seems bogus to me.

Hi,
I do agree with "Rick" as it depends upon the government that what and when it should be release. For example as "Patricio" discussed in this article that wikileaks and guardian are not the future of journalism but it depends upon the politicians. They set and publish news according to their willingness to diversify the intentions of people from one issue to another one.I would like to end my notes with this statement that journalism is not totally dependent upon wikileaks but there are many other stories to run it successfully.

Fabulous article! While I completely agree with Assange's mission to keep news and information untampered for the general public, I also understand the hypocrasy that comes with that mission.

Times have been so tough for journalists and newspapers. Not only are fewer people buying papers (expecting to get all their news online for free) but with the speed at which stories are released and all of the angles they are able to cover through an interactive network, traditional journalism doesn't stand a chance. The pressure that journalists are under to come up with cutting edge stories should not be underestimated.

Enjoying this article?

Get more just like this, delivered to your inbox.

Keep up to date with the latest analysis, inspiration and learning from the Econsultancy blog with our free Digital Pulse newsletter. You will receive a hand-picked digest of the latest and greatest articles, as well as snippets of new market data, best practice guides and trends research.